Moisture-controlling device



F. B. COMINS. MOISTURE CONTROLLING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED APR.24.19I 9.

LMQQQQB Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

l 2 SHEETS-SHEET I F. B.- COMiNS. MOISTURE CONTROLLING D EVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, I919.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

2 SHEET'S-SHEET 2.

could not be entered with safety.

umrsn stares earner lorries.

FRANK B. COMINS, or NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, Assienon. TOAMERICAN morsennmocoivrraiw; or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, a oonronnrron or eielivn nioisrnnn-conrnonnme nnvicn.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Pattgntefl Mar. 25, 1922 Application filed April 2 1, 1919. Serial No. 292,359 I To all "whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, FRANK' BI CoiriNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at NeW- ton, in the county of Middlesex and State 0t Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moisture Controlling" Devices; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make'and use thesaine.

The'present invention relates particularly to moisture controlling devices of the type employing a psychromcter', although certain featuresof the invention are also applicable tovarious other devices.

Controlling devices ot' this typeihave been designed in such manner that both the indicating and controlling instruments thereof are located necessarily in the room in which it is desired to regulate'and control the atmospheric condition. Such controlh ing devices have certain instruments which must be readily accessible' i'or the purposes of observation and manual control which' in caseof the prior devices, necessitates the attendant entering the room from time to time. Consequently, While such prior con trolling devices are satisfactory for usepin a. room of moderate temperature, they are obviously impracticablector use in a drying or' other conditioning room which is'maintained' at such a high temperature that it It; is, therefore, most desirable that a controlling device of this type beconstructed such that the indicators and m'an'ually controllable instrument's shall be conveniently accessible outside of the conditioning room. tofore, however, it has been an unsolved problemto produce asatisfac't orily Working controlling device of this desired construe tion', the main difii'culty being to maintain the" wet bulb element; of the psychronieters in the desired constant state of: saturation. These wet bulb element's comprise a wick which passes over' a thermostatic cylinder, and the only known satisfactory manner of supplying moisture to thewi'ck i'sb'y capillary attraction from liquid" contained in av closed container in which iscreated a par tiel vacuum. The liquid containers have been" constructedheretofore in such manner thatin order" to obtain the desired degree of vacuum therein, it is necessary to remove .Here- I them tron the cont-rolling" devices and place them 111 an inverted position While being supplied with liquid which, of course, neces sit-ate the attendant entering the conditioning room. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved controlling device of the type above indicated which s constructed and arranged so that both the indicatlng and manually controllable instruments may be conveniently accessible outside of the conditioning room.

Another of the objects of the present in vention is to provide a novel and improved mo sture supplying device.

A teatureoflthe present invention conteniplates the provision of a moisture absorbing element connected. with a liquid container and means for supplying liquid to the container and creating a partial vacuum therein Without disturbing the normal position thereot whereby the moisture absorbing element is maintained in a constant state of saturation. in the preferred application of the invention the moisture absorbing element constitutes a wick of the Wetl bulh element of a psycl'ironieter although, except as defined in the claims, the invention is not limited to this specific application. Preferably, theliquid is supplied to the liquid container, and air is siinultaneouslv expelled from the container through coiiduits connected therewith Which are controlled by a manually operable valve. When Gther Features of the present invent-ion comprise certain constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter de scribed and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilledin the art.

Tlie'several features of thepresent inven tion will be readily understood from the following description and accompanying drawing-sin which: Figurel is a nt elevation of a controlling device comprising the features of the invention in their preferred formrl ig'. 2- is a side elevation of the controlling device with a portion oi the wallof arooin shown in section; Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view, mostly in elevation, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. l is a detail side elevation, onan enlarged scale, ofthe liquid container and certain parts of the device connected therewith and showing the wet bulb element in section; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig.

' The controlling device illustrated in the drawings comprises a from instrument sup porting plate 2 which closes an opening a in a wall of the conditioning room, a rear 'instrument supporting plate 6, and side frames 8 which connect said plates. The front plate 2 is provided with an opening normally closed by a door 19, through-which access may be had tothe instruments located within the room. The door is provided with a glass window throl'lgh which the' instruments may be observed without opening the door. A psychrometer 10 is mounted on the forward side of the rear plate 6 which, through .mechanism well known to those skilled in the art, controls the opening andclosing oi heat and humidity diaphragm valves 16 and 18, respectively, mounted on the front plate 2. Also mountedon the. front plate 2 are the gages 20 and 22 whichindicate the conditions of the valves Y16 and 18 respectively. The psychrometer 10 comprises dry and wet bulb elements 24 and 26, respectively, and an indicator 28. The wet bulb element oi the psychrometer comprises the usual cylinder over which passes a wick 32-, the lower end of which extends through an opening in, a cylindrical trough 34: to which water is supplied through a pipe 86. In order to insure a' thorough saturation of the wick 32, a nem her 38 attached to the upper end thereof extends through a pipe 40 to the pipe 36. A...

wet. bulb thermometer 42'mounted on the I rear plate 6 is connected by a wick 4:4 to the cylindrical trough 3a. The pipe 36 is provided with a valve 46 having an elongated stem 48 which extends through the trout plate 2 and is provided with a knob or handle 50. The pipe 36 leads to a water tank or container 52 mounted on the rear side of the rear plate 6. The upper portionot the tank F2 is connected by a water supply pipe 5a to a suitable source of water supply and is provided with a. compound valve conveniently located adjacent the frontside of the plate 2. An air vent pipe 58 also leads from the upper portionof the tank 52 to the compound valve 56. By means of the valve. 56 too pipes 54: and 58 may be simultaneously opened and closed, the air vent 58 opening into the atmosphere when the valve is open.

The valve56 comprises a casing 60, and a rotary tapering spigot or plug 62 which may be actuated by means of a handle .64. The

rear end of the plug 62 of the valve is provided with an axial bore 66 leading from the atmosphere to a radial bore 68 extending to the valve casing, the outer end of which is in the vertical plane of an openingi'din the easing into which the air vent pipe 58 extends li hen the 'alve is opened. the parssage formed by the bores 66 and 68 in the plug 62 is brought into registry with the air vent pipe 58. I

To fill the container 52'withwater in such manner that the wick of the wet bulb element 26 will be maintained in a constant state of saturation, the shut-oil valve 46 is closed'by means of the handle 5 O at the trout of the plate 2. The compound valve 56 is then opened to permit water to be supplied to the container. As the water rises in the container, the airis expelled therefrom through the "air vent pipe 58. The

completion of the filling otthe container with water is indicated by water flowing out or" the air vent passage in the plug 62 of the valve, at which time the valve 56 maybe closed. water will be caused to flow through the pipe 36 and into the cylindrical trough 34, which will cause a partial vacuum to be creatcd in the container. Moisture will then be. supplied to the wick of the psychrometer'to the same extent as moisture is removed therefrom by evaporation. It .willbe notedthat by this construction water may-besupplied to the container and a partial vacuum created therein by the manipulation of means located outside of the conditioning room. 7

The nature and scope of the present in vention having beenindicated and a device c ne bodying the several features of the invention in. their preferred form having been specifically described, what is. claimed is.:'-

. 1. A moisture supplying device having, in

hen the shutoff valve 46 is opened,

combination, a liquid container provided, 7

with an openingin the lower portion there of, a moisture absorbing element'fillingithe opening, and means for substantially filling the container with liquid and causing air to be expelled therefrom without. disturbing the normal condition of the container where-; by the passage of liquid to the moistureabsorbing element creates a partial vacuum in the container. I

2. A moisture supplying deviceghavingin combination, a liquid container provided with an opening in the lower portion there of, a moisture absorbing element vfilling the opening, a conduit connected with the: interior of the container for supplying liquid thereto, a conduit leading from the interior of the container for conducting air therefrom, and means for simultaneously opening and closing said conduits. 7 r

3. A moisture supplying device having, in combination, a liquid container, a trough connected with the interior ofthe lower portion thereof provided with an-opening, a moisture absorbing element filling said opening, and means for supplying liquidto and conducting air from the container without disturbing the normal position of the con.- tainer m such a manner that the moisture supplying device is maintained in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

a. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container, a wet bulb element connected with the container, and means for supplying liquid to and conducting air from the container without disturltiing the normal position of the container, in such manner that the wet bulb element maintained in a. constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

5. A controlling device for controlling the humidity of the atmospheric conditions of a room having, in combination, a liquid container for location at the inner side of a wall of the room, a wet bulb element connected with the container, means controllable at a point at the outer side of the wall of the room without disturbing the normal position of the container for supplying liquidto and conducting air from the container, in such manner that the wet bulb element is maintained in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

6. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container, a conduit leading from the lower portion of the container having its outer end provided with an opening, a wet bulb element filling said opening, and means for supplyingliquid to and conducting air "from the container without disturbing the normal position of the container in such a manner that the wet bulb element is maintained in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

7. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container, a wet bulb element connectedwith the container, two conduits leading from the upper portion of the container for supplying liquid to the container and for conducting air from the container, re

spectively, in such a manner that the wet bulb element is maintained in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container, the air conduit opening directly into the atmosphere, and means for opening and closing said conduits.

8. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container provided with an opening in the lower portion thereof, a moisture absorbing element tightly fitting the opening to act as a stopper for the opening to prevent liquid from flowing through the opening during the filling of the container, and means for filling the container with liquid and causing air to be expelled therefrom without disturbing the normal condition of the container to maintain the moisture absorbing element in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

9. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container provided with an opening in the lower portion thereof, a moisture absorbing element extending into the opening, and means for filling the container with liquid and causing air to be expelled directly from the upper portion thereof without dis turbing the normal condition of the container to maintain the moisture absorbing element in a constant'state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

10. A humidity controlling device of the class described having, in combination, a liquid container, a moisture absorbing element connected with the container, and means controllable at a distance from the container for supplying, liquid to and conducting air from the container in such a manner as to maintain the moisture absorbs ing element in a constant state of saturation by moisture supplied from the container.

FRANK B. OOMINS. 

